


Headstrong

by slidinglamps



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-06-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 05:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3966616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slidinglamps/pseuds/slidinglamps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuvira is a metalbending officer for the United Republic who just wants to be a detective. Baatar is forced to move the Republic after he gets into trouble at Zaofu and his Aunt Lin pulls a few strings for him. An AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The One With A Breakup

**Author's Note:**

> I had originally uploaded a story using the same title to depict a version in which it talked about what I thought happened before Baatar and Kuvira left Zaofu to stabilize the Earth Kingdom. The only problem was I didn't really get into the story, to which I decided to eradicate it and start anew. When I was on Tumblr, I found this photoshop of Kuvira and Baatar as a police chief and detective (photocreds to Franny1234). That then sparked this story, which I'm sure has been done before but whatever. I'm doing it for the helluvit. I also rated this 'T' just because there's some profanity in it. I tried to limit it (I probably would have it in every other sentence but I don't enjoy reading it that much in stories so I restrained myself). Also, I inserted a few OC's in here, which I had listed at the end but then I screwed something up and I can't fix it as of right now. Sorry. Aight, well, that's the end of my blubbering. Hope you enjoy the story :)

Kuvira stared blankly at the wall opposite of her. Her fingers picked at the skin around the nails, and officers and detectives rushed by her, each seeming to have a more urgent cause than the last. Occasionally an officer would stop and start up a chat with her, but quickly moved on once they realized she wasn't listening.

Once in a while, Kuvira's eyes would flit over to Chief Beifong's shut door. On the other side, Kuvira knew that Beifong and the Republic City Council would be in a heated argument on how to approach the rising Equalist Party. The door to the Chief's office would only open every few minutes to allow a councilman to rush out, only for them to run back in a few minutes later. In the past half hour alone, Kuvira had counted that Tenzin had passed her desk eight times.

"Some crazy shit is going down right now." The desk creaked slightly with the added weight, and Kuvira adverted her eyes to the new guest. "The communications room is exploding."

Harumi picked up a few of the pictures that Kuvira was supposed to be studying. Her usually orderly bun had tendrils of hair sticking out and her eyes had large bags under them.

"What're you doing over here then? You don't usually leave the communications room when it's busy," Kuvira said.

"I don't ever leave the communications room, Kuvs—" Kuvira flinched at the nickname "—but there's been a bunch of incoming call of disappearances. It's quite alarming. And I wanted to talk to Chief Beifong about it, but clearly she's occupied." Both of them glanced over at the shut doors and Kuvira shrugged.

"They're discussing the growing popularity of the Equalist Party among nonbenders," Kuvira said. "It's just like the council to do this. Only take action when there is an immediate threat."

"Better late than never," Harumi said.

Kuvira shrugged and rifled through some papers. Harumi's eyes strayed to the newspaper resting by Kuvira's right arm. "Mind if I read that?"

Kuvira glanced over and shook her head. Harumi picked up the paper and snapped it open. There was a pregnant silence between the two girls, the only sound was the low murmuring of the other officers. Kuvira was just about to finish signing an arrest report when Harumi slapped the newspaper down in front of her, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Kuvs, look!"

Kuvira's eyes followed to the spot where Harumi was pointing. On the pro-bending page was a picture of the Fire Ferrets, a new amateur team. Mako had his arm slung around Bolin's shoulders and his other hand pointed at the camera with a look that said, "Come at me". Hasook was on Bolin's other side, looking as if he could think of a billion other places he would rather be.

"What am I looking at?" Kuvira asked.

Harumi's finger tapped on the picture rapidly as she leaned closer. "It's Mako. Isn't he simply dreamy?"

Kuvira slid the paper closer and peered at the picture. "If he didn't look like he hated the world."

Harumi rolled her eyes and swiped the paper back. "If you're not going to appreciate it, I don't think you deserve to even see a glimpse of it."

Kuvira rolled her eyes and glanced back at Beifong's office. "Aren't you and Zarveen still dating?"

Harumi postured stiffened and she shook her head. "I don't know anymore, actually. He's been weird lately. I should have heeded your advice and not date anyone I work with."

Kuvira threw her hands in the air and gave Harumi a look. "I told you it would be a bad idea. Xu and I can't even be in the same room together without it being awkward."

Harumi's eyes scanned the room for said ex-boyfriend, but to no avail. The other metalbending officer was out on patrol, and Kuvira was immensely thankful that Beifong had been considerate of the complicated mess that she and Xu created.

"But why is Zarveen being weird?" Kuvira asked.

"I don't know. We've been fighting a lot, about really, really dumb things. For example, the other day I walked into the communications room with my sleeves rolled down and he told me that I looked unprofessional."

Kuvira blinked at Harumi, who in return held her gaze. "Wait, sleeves rolled down looks unprofessional?"

Harumi threw her hands up in frustration and more tendrils of hair fell out of her bun. "That's exactly what I was thinking. So of course I told him he looked more unprofessional and I just—he makes me so mad now."

Kuvira opened her mouth to respond when the door to Beifong's office swung open. Tenzin was the first to exit the office. He was followed by the other council members, and Beifong stood in the doorway with her crossed and an unamused expression on her face.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Lin." Tenzin held a hand at his chest and gave a curt nod of his head. "I would love to stay and chat for a little bit—" Harumi and Kuvira exchanged a look "—but I must get going if I want to make it to the South Pole by sunset."

With that said, Tenzin turned briskly and rushed out of the office. The other councilmen gave Lin their respective nation's bow before following the airbender. Lin's eyes squinted in disapproval at the council's backs before she retreated back into her office.

"Now would be a good time to go talk to her," Kuvira said.

Harumi slid off of Kuvira's desk and straightened her uniform. She redid her bun and inspected herself in Kuvira's armor.

"You look fine," Kuvira said.

Harumi cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "When you're talking to the Police Chief, you can't look fine. You have to look great." Kuvira smirked and Harumi shrugged. "Care to come in with me? Since you are Beifong's favorite metalbending officer and all."

Kuvira rolled her eyes but got up from her seat anyway. She stretched out her stiff muscles and then followed Harumi to the doors. She could feel the eyes of the other officers on them as Harumi knocked, and it took all of her willpower to not turn and yell at them to get back to work.

The doors opened sharply and Beifong narrowed her eyebrows at the two women outside her office. "What do you want? I have important papers I need to be filing."

"Sorry, Chief. Harumi's just been having some disturbing calls, and she wanted to talk to you about it," Kuvira said.

Beifong's eyes flitted over to Harumi and crossed her arms. "Harumi is a big girl, whatever she needs to tell me she can do it alone. Harumi, please step into my office."

Harumi's eyes widened for a split second before she followed Beifong into the office. Before the doors shut, she shot Kuvira a panicked look, which Kuvira just waved away.

"What's Harumi doing over here?" Kuvira turned to raise an eyebrow at her new guest. Lavana, who was her metalbending partner, held out a cup of day-old tea to her. "She usually stays to herself in the communications room. It must be serious."

Kuvira took the offered tea and was disheartened to find that not only was it old, but it was also incredibly cold. "She's been getting calls from around the city about disappearances. Usually, it's not a big deal. But I think that there's been quite a lot of them."

Lavana nodded slowly and blew on her tea, which Kuvira noted had a decent amount of steam coming off it. "I'm sure it has to deal with the Equalist Party. Word on the street is there's going to be some sort of rally next week for it, but no one knows where. And if anyone does know, they're not letting the tiger cat out of the bag. I'm pretty sure that's what the emergency council meeting was on today."

"They're allowed to rally," Kuvira said. "It's protected by the Republic Betterments."

"As long as it's peaceful," Lavana said. "But their leader doesn't strike me as the peaceful kind."  
Kuvira's eyes narrowed and she set down her tea. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently his family was murdered by a firebender," Lavana said. "And he got away somehow, but at the price of his face. According to rumors, there's this scar on it. Worse than Firelord Zuko's."

Kuvira swore and flexed her hand. "And his political platform is to bring down benders, isn't it?"

Lavana nodded and Kuvira pinched the bridge of her nose. "Then we should figure out more on this rally."

"I'd say let's do it, but Lu and Gang are already on it."

Kuvira turned her head to look at the two detectives. They both sat at Lu's desk, a pile of Varricandy and Varricake wrappers were strewn across it. Lu had a newspaper over his face and Gang was unwrapping another Varricake.

"I still can't believe that they haven't been fired yet," Kuvira said.

"They pull through last minute," Lavana said.

"Very, very, very last minute," Kuvira said.

Lavana laughed and looked up at the clock. "Harumi's been in there for like, twenty minutes now. Do you think everything is okay?"

Kuvira glanced up at the clock and frowned. "I would think so. There hasn't been any—"

"Make sure if you hear any more calls to come to me right away, do you understand?" Kuvira quickly turned and arched an eyebrow as Harumi and Beifong stood in the doorway. Beifong eyebrows were knit together and her hand was on her hip. "If any more happen, I need some officers to do a stakeout then."

Harumi nodded once and Beifong clapped her shoulder for a quick second before she retreated back into her office. Once the doors were closed, Harumi rubbed her shoulder with a slight look of pain on her face.

"How did it go?" Kuvira asked.

"Fine, actually," Harumi said. "Beifong thinks that this has something to do with the Equalists—" Lavana nudged Kuvira and waggled her eyebrows "—but since there haven't been witnesses, it's hard to pinpoint exactly who is the cause. She wants to start looking into the Equalist Party, but the council keeps refusing. They say that since there is no immediate threat of danger, there's no reason to provoke an attack."

"I can guess which council member said that." Kuvira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "But do they understand the platform that Amon is gaining followers on?"

"I think so, but you know Tenzin. He's an airbender. They're little peace fuckers," she said. "Besides, he's moving to the South Pole to teach the Avatar airbending. The council probably just said what he wanted to hear, and since he'll be gone the next few months, they'll take action."

Kuvira closed her eyes and counted to ten before she opened them again. "But the minute Tenzin realizes that the council took motion against his wishes, he'll just fly back. Going to the South Pole from Republic City on a flying bison only takes like, three hours."

"No plan is perfect," Harumi said.

Lavana's eyes flitted up to the clock once more before she broke out into a wide grin. "End of shift. You guys want to hit up Narook's Seaweed Noodlery?"

"Yes!" Harumi's eyes widened with excitement and she grabbed Lavana's arms. "Let's go, it's Sunday. That means that—" Harumi glanced behind Lavana before letting go of the other girl and straightening her posture. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. "I mean, it sounds amazing. Shall we go now?"

Kuvira raised an eyebrow at her and followed where Harumi's eyes had darted to a few seconds prior. Zarveen stood at the other end of the room with a couple of metalbending officers. His glasses were lopsided and his hair stuck out at funny angles. His eyes would occasionally glance over at Harumi until he patted one of the officers on the back and made a beeline towards them.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Harumi whispered. "He's coming over—hi, Zar!"

"Hey, Harumi." Zarveen's eyes glanced down at Harumi's rolled down sleeves before looking back up to meet her eyes. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Oh, I'm going to Narook's with Lav and Kuvs." Both Lavana and Kuvira flinched at their nickname, and Zarveen seemed to notice that the other two girls were there too for the first time.

"Mind if I crash girl's night?" He asked.

Harumi's face split into what seemed like a painful smile and she turned to face Kuvira and Lavana. "Do you girls mind if he crashes our date?" She asked through gritted teeth.

"As long as we don't have to pay for him," Lavana said.

Harumi shot daggers at Lavana before turning back to face Zarveen. "If you want to come, sure."

Zarveen smiled and clasped Harumi's hand. "Great, let's get going then. I'm starving."

Kuvira and Lavana hung back for a couple of seconds and watched the couple leave. Behind her back, Harumi flicked Lavana the finger and then they disappeared behind the doors.

"Should I regret that decision?" Lavana asked as they grabbed their coats.

"We'll find out, won't we?" Kuvira said.

XxXxX

Kuvira didn't know about Lavana, but she regretted inviting Zarveen out. He seemed completely oblivious to Harumi's obvious discomfort, and he ended up making the outing fairly awkward.

The only exciting part was when Bolin and Mako walked into the restaurant. Their faces expressed utter exhaustion, and Kuvira assumed that they had just come from a pro-bending match. In the seat next to her, Harumi's posture stiffened and she lifted her head a little to get a better view.

"Someone seems to be perking up now," Zarveen commented.

Harumi froze in her actions and Lavana smirked into her tea. Zarveen glanced at the pro-bending brothers once before turning his full attention to Lavana.

"So, Lavana, I have a question for you."

"And I'll have an answer."

"Do you wear your sleeves rolled down, or rolled up?"

Kuvira choked on the noodles she had put in her mouth and Harumi smacked her on the back to help. Lavana glanced down at her metalbending uniform and flexed her fingers.

"Well, you see, I wear metal. So, I guess I wear them rolled down?" Lavana said.

"Let's say you had an operator's uniform, or a cop's or a detective's," Zarveen said.

Lavana glanced over at Harumi, who refused to meet her eyes. "I guess, I guess I'd have them rolled down. It seems a little more streamlined."

Clearly unsatisfied with her answer, Zarveen turned to face Kuvira. "What about you? Rolled up or down?"

"Well, like Lavana said, I wear me—"

"If you were a cop or operator or detective," Zarveen cut in quickly.

"I'd—I'd have to say rolled down, for the same reason that Lavana gave," Kuvira said.

Zarveen's nostrils flared and he waved over one of the servers. Kuvira glanced at Harumi and saw that her eyes were staring down at her hands, refusing to look anyone in the eyes.

"Hey, if you were to have a uniform like mine, would you—"

"Oh my god enough already!" Harumi slammed her hands down on the table, making a few water glasses fall off the table and break. The restaurant went silent and everyone's eyes were on them. "The way I wear my sleeves doesn't matter! I don't see what the big problem is with me wearing them rolled down! You look like a fucking nomad with yours rolled up! It's not classy, it's unprofessional, and it's overall just a bad look!"

Zarveen gaped at Harumi, and Kuvira and Lavana quickly shoved some seaweed noodles into their mouths.

"Harumi, I just wanted to know," Zarveen said slowly. "I wasn't trying to upset you."

"If you weren't trying to upset me, you wouldn't ask everyone in the god damn city!" She said.

"I didn't ask everyone in the god damn city!" Zarveen said. "I just asked Kuvira and Lavana!"

Harumi stood up quickly, and Zarveen did the same. Lavana glanced over at Kuvira with a worried expression.

"Should we—should we go?" She asked.

Kuvira nodded vigorously and they both slapped down some Yuans. Kuvira slid out of the booth and quickly followed Lavana out of the restaurant, pausing only to thank Narook and leave him a tip.

"Do you think that they'll be okay?" Lavana asked once they were on the safety of the street. "I'll feel really bad if they break up and it's my fault."

"No, Harumi's been angry with him for some time," Kuvira said.

They were just about to turn the corner when Harumi caught up to them.

"Thanks for ditching me," she said flatly.

"Sorry, we thought it needed to be a, uh, more…private conversation," Lavana said.

Harumi rolled her eyes. "We were in a packed restaurant. I doubt that there was any privacy in there."

Kuvira laughed and slowed down. The other girls followed suit until they came to a complete stop. "What happened after we left?"

"Oh, we broke up," Harumi said matter-of-factly. Kuvira and Lavana exchanged a look and Harumi shrugged. "If you guys must press me for the details, I broke up with him. After that, he was begging for me to give him another chance. I told him to fuck off and then I ran after you guys."

Kuvira raised an eyebrow and Harumi shrugged again. "It was coming. It was inevitable. And I am also quite glad that Mako was there."

"Wait, why? He saw how explosive you are," Kuvira said.

"Because now he sees that I'm a single woman who is ready to mingle."

With that said, Harumi began walking again, this time with a small spring to her step. Kuvira and Lavana watched her walk away, and then Lavana turned to face Kuvira.

"She is one messed up child," she said.

"Well said," Kuvira stated.

Lavana nodded appreciatively and then they jogged to catch up to Harumi, who was talking animatedly about Mako's eyebrows.


	2. The One With A Pro-Bending Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuvira, Harumi, and Lavana all go to a pro-bending match

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went back and renamed the chapters so the chapter titles kick ass now. I mean sort of. Some of the chapter titles will just suck. Oh well. Onwards to Chapter Two!

The minute Kuvira stepped outside of the apartment complex, she knew it was going to be a stifling day at work. The air was humid, and despite it only being a five minute walk to the headquarters, she was drenched in sweat. When she pulled open the doors, Harumi beamed at her when she walked in.

"Morning, Kuvs!" She said.

"Good morning, Harumi," Kuvira said.

Harumi gestured for Kuvira to come over and then she disappeared behind the desk. Kuvira frowned slightly before walking over. She flipped through some of the newspapers and hummed to herself while Harumi scrambled below.

"Got it!" She popped back up and thrust out a three tickets. Her smiled broadened and Kuvira frowned.

"What are these for?" Kuvira asked.

Harumi's smile faltered for a second before she regained her composure. "Three front row tickets to see the Fire Ferrets and the Laogai Lion Vultures."

"So I'm guessing you want me to suggest some people to invite? I mean, since you and Zarveen broke up, I think that it'd be best for you—"

"I'm taking you and Lav, Kuvs." Harumi rolled her eyes and stuck the tickets into her pocket. "It's going to be amazing. In the seats I go, you can practically smell the sweat of the players."

Kuvira scrunched up her face and she tilted her head. "Not sure I want to smell that exactly."

"It'll be fun," Harumi said. "A lot of hot, single men go out to pro-bending matches. And I fully intend on getting you and Lav laid."

Kuvira snorted and picked one of the newspapers off of the desk. "I don't need to be laid."

Harumi rolled her eyes and leaned forward slightly. "Oh please. How long has it been? You and Xu have been broken up for like, two years. That's way too long. Your hy—"

"I'll see you later, Harumi, I have to go train with Lavana." Kuvira quickly cut across Harumi and grabbed a newspaper. She picked up a training bag and hastily passed Harumi, whose face was becoming red from a suppressed laughter.

"Bye, Kuvs! I'll see you at lunch!" Harumi yelled after her before she broke into a loud fit of laughter.

XxXxX

When the two first met, Kuvira instantly knew that Lavana would be a tough competition. Even though Lavana had the threat appeal of an otter penguin, she had a more modern style of bending, keeping light on her feet and she always waited for her opponent to strike first. Her technique enabled her to get in quicker shots against opponents, and she also was able to defeat anyone in a matter of minutes without breaking a sweat.

The first time Kuvira had gone against Lavana, it had ended badly. Kuvira had studied Lavana's style of fighting throughout the course of week, and had prepared herself to fight more like Lavana. The first couple of minutes, Kuvira had held her own. It wasn't until they were nearing the seven minute mark when Lavana realized Kuvira was a lot tougher than others did things get messy. A poorly aimed rock hit Kuvira's shoulder, temporarily dislocating it and made Kuvira have to sit on the sidelines and take mental notes about the different competitors. Fortunately, Beifong saw the fight as a draw, since Kuvira could have probably gone on had her shoulder not been thrown out.

The second time Kuvira fought Lavana was the day after she was cleared. Lavana had apologized profusely through the weeks of recuperation, and by this point the two of them had become friends and talked about renting an apartment together (which that talk had stayed that way, since Kuvira had then dated Xu and moved in with him). For the first couple of minutes, Lavana had thrown small and guarded attacks. It wasn't until the five minute mark did anything exciting happen. For the whole fight, Kuvira had been bending with mainly her right arm, since she was afraid of throwing the left one out again. But when Lavana kept insisting on throwing weak hits, Kuvira hit her square in the stomach with a rock. As if the hit had woken her up from some dream, Lavana regained her usual style and began to fight back. She had nearly dislocated Kuvira's other shoulder when Beifong called the fight and told them that they had both done exceptionally well.

Now, as Kuvira tightened the linen bandages on her arms and stretched her shoulder, she thought about how much of a mistake she had made when she didn't take Lavana's original offer of moving into an apartment in the Little Ba Sing Se area of town.

"What are you thinking about?" Lavana asked as she clasped her helmet piece into place.

"The first few fights we had," Kuvira said. "Remember when you dislocated my shoulder?"

Lavana froze and then sagged her shoulders. "Yes. And I could do without you feeling the need to bring it up every single time we practice."

Kuvira laughed and began to stretch her hamstrings. "I was also thinking about how I should've moved in with you instead of Xu."

The corner of Lavana's lips curled up into a small smile and she shook out her hands. "The offer would still stand if you hadn't gone and bought one of your own."

Kuvira shrugged and got into her fighting stance. "I would have moved in, but you already had Rai living with you."

Lavana rolled her eyes and shook out her legs. "Rai. What a dumbass. She's so gross to live with. Her junk is literally everywhere." Lavana glanced at the clock and got into her stance as well. "You ready to go down?"

Kuvira nodded once and Lavana threw a boulder at her. Kuvira dodged it neatly and then encased Lavana's right calf in earth. She shot out a cable and had it wrap around Lavana's wrist. Kuvira made a series of quick hand movements and then Lavana was lying on the ground.

"That was a good hit," Lavana said, her voice an octave higher than usual. "Although you were still a little flat footed."

Kuvira glanced down at her feet and shifted her weight to her toes a little more. Lavana thrust a hand up and Kuvira had to jump back to prevent herself from being impaled by a giant rock wall.

"Are we trying to kill each other now?" Kuvira asked.

"Not at all—" Lavana did a couple of complicated movements and Kuvira found herself lying on the ground "—but I am trying to see how much awareness you have."

Kuvira rolled to the side from another one of Lavana's attacks and then launched her own counterattack. She kicked rocks at Lavana, who easily evaded them. In return, Lavana erected several small rock mountains and Kuvira had to dodge them all. One of them had managed to trip Kuvira, and she lay on the ground. As Lavana was about to throw the final strike, her eyes flitted to the clock on the wall and she dropped the boulder.

"Nice job today." Lavana offered out a hand and Kuvira grasped it. "You were a lot more alive and focused."

Kuvira brushed off some of the dust from her clothes and Lavana brushed off her back. Kuvira picked up some of the clean towels and tossed one to Lavana. She caught it in midair and began to wipe the sweat off her face.

"I hate when it's so humid," Lavana said as they walked into the locker room. "The uniforms are like a sauna and the building itself just feels like hell."

Kuvira smirked slightly and metalbent her locker open. She threw the dirty towel into a hamper and began to pull on her uniform. "At least we only have two hours of patrol. Then we get to go home and just sit in a cold bath."

Lavana nodded in agreement and began to pull on her boots. Kuvira braided her hair quickly and then grabbed her helmet. She waited for Lavana to finish pulling on the rest of her uniform before they began to head out.

"Has Harumi talked to you about tonight yet?" Kuvira asked,

Lavana arched an eyebrow and shook her head. "No, are we going to do something?"

"Harumi is determined to get us laid," Kuvira said. Lavana frowned at this and opened the doors to the streets of Republic City. "She bought three tickets to see the Fire Ferrets and the Lion Vultures."

"You know she's only doing this to see Mako," Lavana said slowly.

"And to get us laid," Kuvira added. "Her reasoning isn't totally selfish."

Lavana rolled her eyes and then clipped her helmet into place. "I just hope that she doesn't make us wait to meet them like she did last time. Remember how long we had waited, and then they didn't even come out?"

Kuvira groaned inwardly at the memory, and she tightened the straps on her helmet. "If she does, I'm leaving. I'm just going to go home and cook myself some sesame noodles."

Lavana gave Kuvira a wan smile as they began to head towards the park. "Mind if I join you then? I'm not one for pro-bending arena food."

"Of course you can," Kuvira said. "You're always welcome to eat food with me."

Lavana's smile widened and then they walked in silence for a while. Kuvira had always been glad that Lavana was her partner. There was never that need for a constant conversation, and since Lavana was more of an introvert than extrovert, she didn't try to bring too much attention to herself.

By the time the two girls reached the park, Kuvira's hair was wet with sweat and her skin felt sticky against the armor. The park was mostly empty except for a few walkers, and Kuvira immediately took off her helmet. She ruffled out her hair and a couple strands fell out from her braid and framed her face. Lavana hesitated slightly before she took off her own helmet as well.

"Hopefully no one strikes us down," Lavana said.

"Oh relax, it's the park!" Kuvira waved her arms around and smiled brightly. "Nothing violent ever happens here."

They stopped at the river and Kuvira splashed a bit of cool water on her face. A couple of feet away, one of the homeless members of Republic City sat napping against a bush.

"Is he alright?" Kuvira asked, peering closer to see for the rise and fall of the man's chest.

Lavana leaned down and tilted her head. "Yeah, he's still breathing."

Kuvira rose to her feet and bent a rock up into her hand. She smoothed it over and flipped it over a couple of times.

"Want to try and skip stones?" She asked.

"I'll beat you," Lavana said.

Kuvira rolled her eyes and threw the stone into the water. It skipped five times and Lavana arched an eyebrow. "Impressive. But I can do you one better."

She smoothed her own rock and was about to skip it when a loud noise interrupted her. She dropped the stone and both she and Kuvira turned around to find the source of the noise.

"It's coming from over there." Lavana pointed over the bridge, and they both took off immediately to the sound.

The noise was growing increasingly louder, and in the distance Kuvira could see a small mob of people with their backs turned to them yelling at someone. Kuvira squinted to try and see who it was, but in vain.

"Can you see who they're yelling at?" Kuvira asked.

"I was just about to ask you the same question," Lavana said.

They slowed their pace down when they were a couple of yards away from the mob, and then Kuvira froze. The man on the platform stood in front of a giant picture of a masked man.

"Lavana, read the posters," Kuvira said.

Lavana squinted at the posters and her jaw tightened. "'Join the revolution.' 'Equal.'" She turned to Kuvira, her eyebrows knit together in concentration. "I think we may have just stumbled across the Equalist Party."

The Equalist supporters all turned their attention back to the man on the podium, who thrust his fist into the air and screamed into the megaphone he held. "It's people like that waterbender that oppress us! It's time to take a stand! Join Amon!"

The crowd roared loudly in response, and more people passing by stopped to listen in on what the guy had to say. Lavana signaled for Kuvira to follow her, and the two of them began to retreat back to headquarters.

"What are you doing, we still have another hour," Kuvira hissed.

"Yeah, well, we just drummed up an Equalist lead, and Beifong needs to hear it," Lavana said. "I think she'll forgive us this once for ditching patrol."

XxXxX

Beifong was filing through a bunch of police reports when Kuvira and Lavana walked into her office. She had on a pair of wiry glasses, and Kuvira stumbled slightly when she saw them.

"What is it?" Beifong demanded. "Aren't you two supposed to be on patrol?"

"Yes," Lavana said slowly. "But we patrolled the park and found an Equalist rally."

Beifong's eyes widened and she rose quickly. She bent her glasses off and narrowed her eyebrows. "Tell me everything you found out."

"They're staging a revolution," Kuvira said.

Beifong cursed and slammed her hands down on her desk. "I knew it wouldn't just be a rally. I told the council to invest some time in this, but Tenzin—the fucking peace lover—refused to take an action. I know I could convince the—"

"Chief." The door swung open behind them and Xu stood in the doorway. His eyes flitted over to Kuvira and he shuffled uncomfortably.

"What is it, Xu? If it's not important, I have to discuss something with Kuvira and Lavana," Beifong said harshly.

"There's been an arrest, the Avatar is in the interrogation room."

"The Avatar?" Beifong asked. Xu nodded once and Beifong pinched the bridge of her nose. "What in—I am going to kill Tenzin." Beifong turned to Kuvira and Lavana and gave them her most sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, girls. But I have to see why the Avatar is in Republic City. We'll have to discuss this Equalist thing later."

Without another word, Beifong hustled out of the room. Xu lingered in the doorway for a couple of seconds before he followed suit. Kuvira rolled her eyes at him and Lavana shrugged.

"Could have been worse, you know," she said.

"True, but still," Kuvira said.

Lavana offered her a small smile before they both exited the chief's room. Harumi was waiting at the other end of the office, a bemused expression on her face.

"Guess what time it is, ladies," she said.

Kuvira glanced at the clock and closed her eyes. "It's the end of the shift, isn't it?"

Harumi nodded and whipped out her pro-bending tickets again. "And in six hours, we'll be sitting inside the pro-bending arena watching the Fire Ferrets kick some Lion Vulture ass."

Kuvira cracked a smile and Harumi slung her arms around Kuvira and Lavana's shoulders. "Meet me at my apartment tonight at eight-thirty. It'll give us plenty of time to get to the arena."

"You live a block from the arena," Kuvira said. "We don't need a half hour to walk there."  
Harumi arched an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "True statement. We only need two minutes. However, before the game, the Fire Ferrets meet with some of their fans."

Lavana groaned and Harumi laughed happily. "This time it's an almost guarantee. I promise."

XxXxX

There were millions of other places Kuvira would have rather been than standing outside the pro-bending arena with ninety percent humidity. The only bright side was that she was no longer in her metalbending uniform, and that Harumi had bought them dumplings to compensate for the fact that it was so hot and that there was only a sixty-five chance that the Fire Ferrets might come out.

"I still don't understand why you're wearing all of that," Kuvira said, eyeing Harumi's outfit.

She was decked out head-to-toe in red, and she had a small flag with the face of a fire ferret on it. Harumi glanced down at her outfit and smiled widely. "Because it shows how much I support them!"

"You've literally been broken up with Zarveen for two days and you're already making your move on to someone else," Lavana said.

Harumi rolled her eyes and wiped some strands of hair out of her eyes. "I'm not going to date Mako. That's just ridiculous."

"At least you're sensible," Lavana said dryly. "I was worried that that trait had escaped your mind."

Harumi stuck her tongue out and Lavana rolled her eyes in response. Kuvira picked at her tank top and wished that she had brought along a towel to wipe off some of the sweat.

The doors to the arena opened, and Toza stepped out. He donned the pro-bending training uniform, and immediately a bunch of people flooded over to him.

"Are the Fire Ferrets coming out?" Harumi asked.

Toza glanced her way and shook his head, smirking slightly when he saw her getup.

"Harumi," Lavana said slowly. "At the end of this night, I will kill you. And I hope that you are okay with that."

"Of course I am," Harumi said. "I know we're going to find a really nice boy for you to go home with."  
Lavana shifted uncomfortably but nodded in agreement. They handed their tickets to Toza, who ripped the stub off and handed then the rest of the ticket. Inside, Kuvira marveled at the size of the stadium. She had been there on multiple accounts with Harumi, but each time the stadium's magnitude never ceased to amaze her.

"Our seats are down there," Harumi said.

Lavana and Kuvira followed Harumi down to the front row. Harumi entered first, then Lavana, and Kuvira brought out the rear. They all took their seats and Harumi chatted animatedly to the people around here who also donned the red colors of the Fire Ferrets.

"I think that the goal of us getting laid is officially out the window," Lavana said as they watched Harumi move a couple of seats to talk with some more Ferret fans.

Kuvira smiled and crossed her arms. She stared down at the field and wondered vaguely if it hurt getting knocked over the edge of it.

The seat next to her creaked, and Kuvira's eyes flitted over to see who was now sitting beside her. The man had tan skin and thick rectangular framed glasses. His eyes were glazed over as if he had gone several nights without sleep, and he donned typical Earth Kingdom attire.

"I can see you looking at me." He spoke with such force and volume that Kuvira jumped slightly.

"Sorry, I didn't realize I was being so obvious," Kuvira said.

The man shrugged and he leaned back in his chair a little. "It's alright, I guess. I just hope I don't look like a complete mess. I just got off of a very long train ride, and I probably look like hell."

Kuvira smirked and shook her head. "I think you look decent."

The man smiled and he gestured to the field. "I've never seen one of these games before. Is it fun?"

"I only come because my friend is obsessed with one of the players," Kuvira said. "But I suppose there are worse things one can do."

The man smirked and he crossed his arms. "I hope this is all that my aunt's been getting me pepped up for. She said it's one of the most Republic City-like things you can do."

"Your aunt is a very wise woman," Kuvira said, raising her eyebrows.

"She has her moments," the man said.

They sat in silence for a while, and then he turned slightly so he faced her more. "Are you sure I don't look horrendous? I'd hate to look like shit in front of a pretty girl like yourself."

Kuvira laughed and shook her head. "No, you look fine."

The man nodded again and settled back into his seat. He opened his mouth to say something else when the lights went completely out, the only ones staying on were the ones spotlighting the field. The announcer then rose up from the corner, his hand held high.

"Introducing, the Fire Ferrets!"

He gestured to the team that was standing and waving on its way over on the platform. Kuvira glanced over at Harumi, who was screaming loudly with the rest of her newfound friends.

"And in the opposing corner, the Laogai Lion Vultures!"

The nearby Fire Ferret fans immediately booed, and Lavana nudged Kuvira and rolled her eyes once they made eye contact.

"Fans," she said. "And their unwavering loyalty."

Throughout the match, Kuvira stayed mostly silent. She cheered at the appropriate times, but mostly spent time thinking of different police reports she had yet to file. In the final round, when Bolin and Hasook were knocked out as well as the Lion Vultures' water and fire bender, and it was down to Mako, Kuvira stood with the rest of the crowd, cheering with them. Of course, she didn't consider herself to be an avid pro-bending fanatic, but when a match was close like this, she got a little more into it.

The time on the clock began to run out, and the crowd began to go crazy. The two pro-benders at in the rink were giving it their all, when Mako fired one last shot at the Lion Vultures' earthbender, who fell into the rink.

"IT'S A KNOCKOUT!"

The arena erupted into cheers, and Harumi returned to Lavana and Kuvira to grab them each by their shoulders and shaking them furiously while screaming. The man next to Kuvira raised an eyebrow as he watched the scene before him, and Kuvira forced a smile.

"Is that your friend who loves one of the players?" He asked, his eyes still on Harumi even after she rejoined her other friends.

"Yeah," Kuvira said.

"I'm assuming she's with the Fire Ferrets, with all that red clothing."

Kuvira nodded and glanced back at Harumi. Lavana had now joined her and they both flashed her a thumbs up.

"It was nice talking to you," the man said. "Maybe I'll catch you at another one of these games?"

There was an edge of hopefulness to his voice, and Kuvira nodded. "I'm sure I'll be back."

He smiled at her before turning and leaving the arena. Lavana and Harumi surrounded her within seconds, each spitting out questions quicker than the other.

"I can't even think with you two yelling at me," Kuvira stated.

"Sorry, Kuvs," Harumi said. "Who was the hottie you were talking to?"

Kuvira glanced at the place where he had disappeared and shrugged. "Not sure, actually. We didn't exchange names."  
Harumi clutched her chest and pretended to faint into Lavana's arms. "No, Kuvs, no. Say it's not so."

Kuvira nodded slowly, and Harumi gasped, dropping more weight so Lavana faltered slightly. "You just crushed your poor old friend's heart. I mean, how could you not get his name?"

Kuvira shrugged and Harumi was practically on the ground now. Lavana's arms began to shake slightly and she looked up into Kuvira's eyes. "It is pretty lame that you didn't even get a name."

Kuvira rolled her eyes and pulled Harumi back up to her feet. "He said he'll be at more of these games."

Harumi's eyes lit up immediately and she clapped her hands together. "All the more reason to come to these now. Now you really can't bail on me."

Lavana laughed and Harumi frowned. "Now, as for Lav here, I don't know what she was doing, but Lav, seriously. The goal was to get you two laid. I got Kuvira almost halfway there, and I got you nowhere."

Lavana rolled her eyes and they began to migrate out of the arena. "I'll get laid when I want to get laid."

Harumi shook her head and clicked her tongue in disappointment at her. "I'm telling you what I told Kuvira earlier today, if you don't get laid soon, your hy—"

"Alright, goodnight Harumi!" Lavana yelled, running up the steps three at a time.

Harumi laughed and waved to Lavana's retreating figure. She clung to Kuvira's arm and directed her towards the back of the pro-bending arena.

"Now, Kuvs, I know you hate doing this, but I think that there's a good chance that the Fire Ferrets might—"

"Nope, you're on your own for this one," Kuvira said, yanking her arm out of Harumi's grasp.

Harumi began laughing again, and Kuvira sprinted down the hall to try and catch up with Lavana to go to her apartment and make some much needed sesame noodles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY YOU MADE IT DO THE END OF ANOTHER CHAPTER. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THAT, IT IS MUCH APPRECIATED.
> 
> ALSO SORRY IF THERE ARE MISTAKES, I TYPED THIS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK AND THEN EDITED IT AT LIKE, 12:00 AM. I'LL GO BACK THROUGH AND EDIT IT.
> 
> Less caps-locked message: I should probably say that the first few chapters will be completely and utterly boring. And I am very sorry about that, it's just from where I decided to start the story, there isn't much room to fast forward the events but still have them make sense. I tried that with another fic I wrote and it was just bad. It was confusing and whatnot and it became a shitty piece of work. Hopefully this doesn't become a shitty piece of work but sorry if it does. I try.


	3. The One With A Job Interview

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baatar goes to a job interview and gets lost in the city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 3. I got some Baatar 3rd person POV in so that's fun. Enjoy it :)

The first night that Baatar spent in Republic City was a restless one. The constant sound of Satomobiles and people milling around on the streets was a drastic change from the quietness and solitude he had grown accustomed to in Zaofu. He had spent a majority of his night lying in his bed staring up at the ceiling, wonder who in their sane minds would want to be out late. The other half of the night, he spent sitting on the couch flipping through different radio shows while eating some of the leftover dumplings that he had ordered for dinner.

By the time the sun came up, Baatar's eyes were glazing over and he had a massive headache. He threw out the rest of the dumplings and began to dress himself for the day. He had left a majority of his clothes back in his closet, since he knew that the flashy metal wasn't a common look outside of Zaofu. He had also left a lot of personal possessions in his room that he hoped his mother would keep until his return.

The apartment building his mother had gotten him was conveniently located near the center of the city. He could see the Cabbage Corp tower from the front doors, and if he went on the roof, he was able to see the small speck in the distance that was Air Temple Island. Outside of his apartment complex's window, Baatar had a nice view of the pro-bending arena.

As he gathered his things, Baatar thought back to the previous night he had spent in the arena. Pro-bending was a lot less intense than he had anticipated, but of course he was slightly prejudiced due to the fact he had helped his younger brothers invent their own game, which, in his mind, was more fast-paced and better entertainment.

His mind floated to the girl who he had sat next to. She was very beautiful, there was no denying that fact, but Baatar had just gotten off of the train from Zaofu and walked into his apartment when he saw an envelope from Lin resting on the counter. Enclosed was a map, three slips of paper telling him of different places and times he had interviews at, and a ticket to that night's pro-bending match. He had thought about just skipping the game, but in the end, he felt guilty about his aunt spending the money on something he didn't even go to watch, so he ended up going with his travel clothes still on. Baatar assumed he looked like a mess. It had taken him a day's worth of traveling to arrive in Republic City, and he had slept in the most uncomfortable position.

Baatar grabbed the three interview slips and walked out the door. He made sure he locked it, though he knew he had nothing of value that someone would want to steal. He was out of the apartment building, already on his way towards what he assumed was Cabbage Corp when he realized he had left his map at home.

He stopped in his tracks and glanced around at the different street signs, trying to figure out which ones on the map would lead him to Cabbage Corp. He must have looked pretty dumb, because he felt a soft hand on his shoulder after a couple of minutes.

"Do you need any help?"

Baatar turned around and raised his eyebrows. A girl who looked one or two years younger than he stood behind him. She donned a Republic City Police uniform, and her hair was up in a tight bun. Her facial features and voice sounded familiar, but Baatar couldn't quite put a finger on where he would have met this woman before.

"Yeah, actually. Do you think you could direct me to Cabbage Corp?" Baatar asked.

"Sure," the girl said. "I'm actually headed that way to pick up some lunches, so I can show you."

Baatar nodded and began to follow the girl across the street. They walked together in silence for a little bit before she stopped and held out a hand. "My name is Lavana, by the way. I figured I should introduce myself."

Baatar slapped his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "You're the girl that was at the pro-bending game last night, weren't you?"

Lavana narrowed her eyebrows and slowly began to walk again. "I was at a game, yes. How did you know?" There was a slight edge to her voice, and Baatar quickly realized she didn't recognize him at all.

"I sat next to you," Baatar said. "I mean, not right next to you, I sat next to your friend."  
Lavana's face scrunched up for a second before it softened and a small smile made an appearance. "You sat next to Kuvira?"

"I mean, I didn't get her name," Baatar said. "But you had that friend that was decked out in Fire Ferret colors, right?"

Lavana nodded and then she began to laugh. "Oh, wait until I tell Harumi—she's the obsessive fan—that I ran into you. She will freak."

Baatar knit his eyebrows together in confusion and he tilted his head. "Why? Did I do something wrong last night?"

"Oh, completely the opposite. But I'm afraid I'll be oversharing if I were to tell you the truth, so let's just say Harumi wants you and Kuvira to date," Lavana said.

Baatar nodded thoughtfully and Lavana stopped once again. She glanced at the building they stood outside of and then looked back into Baatar's eyes. "This is Cabbage Corp. The Police Headquarters is down that street—" She pointed in the direction that they had just come from "—and I think that Kuvira's on desk duty, so you should definitely stop in and see us."

"Thanks for showing me the way, Lavana," Baatar said.

"Of course." Lavana frowned and crossed her arms. "You didn't actually tell me what your name was."

There was a pregnant pause, and then Baatar realized she was waiting for him to introduce himself. "My name is Ju—Baatar. My name is Baatar."

Lavana arched an eyebrow and tilted her head. "Are you sure it's Baatar?"

"Definitely." Baatar adjusted his glasses and bit his lower lip. "I'm the second Baatar in my family, so I mean, I'm just used to being called 'Junior.'"

"Oh, I understand," Lavana said. She offered him a small smile before she began to walk away. "But seriously, Baatar—" she turned around and raised her eyebrows "—you should really come and visit."

With that said, she turned and began to walk a little bit faster to her destination, leaving Baatar alone with his thoughts.

XxXxX

Cabbage Corp was a lot nicer on the outside than on the inside. The minute Baatar stepped into the place, he had to remind himself of his mother's saying, "Don't judge a person by the color of their clothing." Of course, the 'clothing' of Cabbage Corp was the beautiful and polished marble of the exterior, but the person was the peeling paint and rotting wood of the interior.

"Hello and welcome to Cabbage Corp, I'm Li Shang. How can I assist you today?"

Baatar blinked at the front desk person and he held up his interview slip. "I have an interview scheduled with a Mr. Gao at ten."

Li took the paper and examined it before nodding. "Go on through, then. Mr. Gao will be expecting you." He scribbled directions to Gao's office on the paper and then slid it back across the counter.

Baatar bowed politely and then took the elevator up to the indicated floor. He glanced down the vast hallways, which were a little nicer than the entrance, and then he began to walk down towards Gao's office.

Workers rushed passed him as he went, some giving him a passing glance while others just ran right into him. Gao's receptionist stopped Baatar before he went in, taking all of the lint off of his clothing and straightening out any wrinkles.

"For a shitty looking dump, Gao runs a strict dress code," Baatar commented.

The receptionist rolled her eyes before she knocked on the door and then opened it. "Mr. Gao? Baatar Beifong is here to see you, claims he has an interview?" There was a muffled response, and then the receptionist stepped back, allowing Baatar into the room.

Gao sat behind a large desk in a large chair. He was a tiny, stringy man and there was a picture of a cabbage cart and merchant on the wall next to him. The doors closed loudly behind Baatar and immediately the realness of the interview hit him.

"Baatar, please, take a seat." Gao gestured to the free seat in front of him, and Baatar sat.

He wiped the sweat of his palms off on the fabric covering his thighs and he felt Gao's eyes steady on him.

"So I heard you think this is a shitty building," Gao said.

Baatar glanced at the ground, his eyes sweeping the dusty floor and the various scrape marks that the chair had made from past visitors. "I do, actually." Gao's eyebrows shot up and he leaned forward. "But before you yell at me, I have to say that this is why you should hire me. I can construct a building that won't fail, and in return it makes your company look good. When you have a good building, people want to buy your products."

Gao's eyes narrowed and he steepled his fingers, resting his chin against his thumbs. "And what makes you think I need your help in making my company building look better? I should have you know that I'm selling a hundred airships a month to the Earth Queen, and that I also have deals with the Northern Water Tribe and parts of the Fire Nation."

Baatar shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his hands. "But Varrick Global Industries and Future Industries are running you out of the market."

Gao rolled his eyes and leaned back into his chair. "So? Just because Hiroshi Sato thinks he can impress a few of the wealthier with some Satomobiles and Varrick's the only Water Tribe millionaire doesn't mean anything. I'm making fine sales." The last part sounded as if he was trying to convince himself more than Baatar, and Baatar sensed it.

"Of course you're making off fine, but wouldn't you want to be making off fantastic? I mean, I could help you. I'd be an asset. And since I'm a Beifong—"

"You have credibility in the Earth Kingdom," Gao said.

They sat in silence for a while, and Baatar distracted himself by counting the windows on the other buildings outside. He had made it to eighty-one when Gao spoke again. "I'll give you the job. You have one year to redo this place. If it attracts more people, you can keep your job. If not, you're fired."

Baatar bit his lower lip and thought for a second. He could always go to the interviews he had later at Future Industries and Varrick Global, but he knew that they would be harder to convince than Gao. "I'll take it."

Gao stood and Baatar followed suit. He extended out a hand and Baatar shook it. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at seven, Baatar," Gao said.

"I look forward to it," Baatar said.

Gao nodded once and then sat back in his seat. He began to work on some paperwork and Baatar left the room. He stopped outside of the front desk on the first floor to grab a map, and then he made his way towards the Police Headquarters.

XxXxX

Kuvira was about to finish signing another arrest report when Lavana and Harumi plopped a brown paper bag on her desk. She stared at the bag before looking up into Lavana and Harumi's eyes. Lavana's face remained still and unemotional while Harumi had to bit her lip to suppress a smile.

"What did you do to my lunch?" Kuvira asked, reaching into the bag quickly.

"Nothing, I promise," Lavana said, shoving the bag shut.

Kuvira relaxed back against her chair, but she narrowed her eyes at them. "What is it then?"

Harumi's eyes wrinkled a little more when she suppressed a bigger smile, and Lavana sat on the edge of Kuvira's desk. "So you remember that guy you were talking to last night at the pro-bending game?"

Kuvira nodded once, and Lavana opened her mouth to continue when Harumi broke. "HisnameisBaatarandhe'sgoingtovisityoutodayandohmygodyou'regoingtogetlaidI'msoexcited."

Kuvira blinked and Harumi clasped a hand to her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.

"Harumi, I could not understand you at all," Kuvira said.

"Oh my god Kuvs!" Harumi shrieked. "How could you not hear that?"

"I don't know, maybe because I don't speak fluent Harumish yet?" Kuvira suggested.

Harumi rolled her eyes and joined Lavana on the edge of the desk. "The guy's name is Baatar, and Lav ran into him on the way to pick up lunch. She told him to stop by, and get this…he might stop by!" Harumi squealed and thrashed around weirdly. "I'm such a miracle worker. I've officially almost gotten Kuvs laid, and now it's just Lav."

Kuvira and Harumi both looked at Lavana, who shifted uncomfortably and glanced at her hands. "Like I said, I'll get laid when I want to get laid. I just don't want to do it now."

Harumi's eyes widened and she grabbed Lavana's shoulders. "Why on earth not? It's been a little over six months for you, hasn't it? Granted, Kuvs has been like, fucking two years, but still. You guys are going to—"

"Harumi, I swear to Raava if you say anything about our hymens," Kuvira began threateningly.

Harumi laughed and clasped Kuvira's shoulder. "I was going to say you guys are going to just become so sexually frustrated that you end up going to a strip club or something and then you have an awful one night stand and then you end up pregnant or something with a hooker's baby."

Kuvira and Lavana stared at Harumi, who smiled broadly at them and then began to twiddle her thumbs.

"Literally, what is wrong with her," Lavana said.

Harumi narrowed her eyebrows at Lavana and crossed her arms. "Nothing is wrong with me. Just because I look out for my friends' sexual issues does not mean that I have something 'wrong' with me."

Lavana rolled her eyes and took a dumpling out of the bag. The juices flowed over her hand and she groaned in frustration. "I love these suckers, but they're so messy."

Kuvira nodded in agreement and Harumi shoved the bag into Lavana's gut. "Be a dear, Lav, and put those in the fridge with our names on them. We still have an hour and a half until lunch."

Lavana gave Harumi a suspicious glance before picking up the bag and walking towards the break room.

"Alright, so what did you want to talk about with Lavana out of the picture?" Kuvira asked.

"Oh, honestly nothing," Harumi said. "I just didn't want to be the one to put away the dumplings."

Kuvira rolled her eyes and finished signing the report. She added it to the stack of signed reports and then took one off of the other pile. She was beginning to proof read it when Harumi whacked her arm.

"Ow, what?" Kuvira asked.

Harumi's eyes rolled to their left and then Harumi jerked her head slightly. Kuvira followed her eyes and froze. The man—Baatar—stood in the entrance way. He had a tired look to him, and his eyes were scanning the room. Right as they made eye contact, Beifong walked out of her office and she made a beeline towards Baatar.

"Hey, kid," she said.

"Hey Lin," Baatar said, breaking eye contact.

Kuvira watched the two exchange words as if they were old friends meeting up again for the first time in ages. Beifong clapped Baatar's shoulder a couple of times, and his eyes would flit over to her occasionally. Kuvira kept noticing how Baatar refused to call Beifong anything other than 'Lin', which was something only Tenzin would do.

"Now I don't know about you, Kuvs," Harumi said. "But I think you've caught a good elephant koi with this one."

Kuvira knit her eyebrows together and glanced at Harumi. "What?"

"You know the saying, there's a million of fish in the Yue Bay? Well, you caught yourself an elephant koi of a fish."  
Kuvira blinked at Harumi, who continued to hold her gaze before breaking it off. "Alright, well, clearly I've lost you." She slipped off the desk and watched as Lin and Baatar went into her office. "And clearly you've lost Baatar to Lin."

Kuvira narrowed her eyebrows and Harumi shrugged. She stretched out her back and smiled. "Next time, try and beat the Chief to the punch."

She punched Kuvira's shoulder and then headed out the door to return to the operating room. Lavana returned seconds later and she pulled up a chair.

"So what did Harumi want to talk about? I figured I gave you enough time to discuss," Lavana said.

"Nothing important, really." Kuvira glanced at Beifong's shut doors before looking back into Lavana's eyes. "Do you think Beifong is dating Baatar?"

Lavana's eyes flitted over to the closed doors and frowned. "I mean, maybe? I don't think he'd call you pretty if he was seeing someone else."  
"You never know, Lavana," Kuvira said. "He could be one of those guys."  
Lavana rolled her eyes and she rose from the chair. "He's like, half her age, maybe even more. There's no way they'd be dating." Lavana straightened her posture and she cracked her back. "Besides, you two don't even know each other. This isn't the time to start getting jealous."

Kuvira opened her mouth to protest, but Lavana waved her hand and began to saunter to her own desk where a stack of papers awaited her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had written more for the ending but it was all pretty shitty so I just got rid of it. Ha. Oh well. Thanks for making it to the end of yet another chapter :)


	4. The One With Fire Nation Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Baatar makes a new friend and decides to be adventurous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewatched Book 1 and I realized how much I screwed up some of the timing, so I went back and change a few minor things in past chapters (basically who the Fire Ferrets fought against in the Chapter II, just because the way I had written it would not make sense with what was presented to us canonally is that what it's called, or is it canonically?)

The streets of Republic City were much more complicated than the ones back in Zaofu. They all branched off into several different allies and roads, and Baatar found himself lost in them more than once. It became an issue right away when Baatar was late to his first shift at Cabbage Corp, and Gao had refused to take any excuses and made Baatar stay late to make up for the lost time.

Baatar then spent the time after his shift tracking different routes from his apartment to Cabbage Corp to determine which route would be the most liable. Once he finally established a route, he walked it a couple of times before retiring to his living room where he listened to the radio while drinking tea and eating some sesame noodles.

The next morning, Baatar made it to Cabbage Corp with fifteen minutes to spare before his shift. Gao had not arrived yet, so Baatar waited outside the building. He had already began to make progress on the interior, and he predicted that in two weeks he would have Cabbage Corp's inside as beautiful as the out. As Baatar was calculating different lengths he would need for tile flooring, a man stood next to him. He wore a Cabbage Corp engineer jacket that was hemmed with red.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning," Baatar said.

The man extended out a hand and offered Baatar a half smile. "Name's Kian. I haven't seen you around before, so I'm assuming you're new."  
Baatar shook his hand and nodded. "Baatar. I just got this job two days ago. I'm in charge of redesigning the building's infrastructure."

Kian nodded once and crossed his arms. "It's about time. Gao's all about outer appearance being more valuable than that of inner." Kian smirked and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You should see his wife."

Baatar's eyebrows shot up and Kian shrugged. "Wait until we have Worker Appreciation Day. She always presents the awards."

Baatar opened his mouth to respond when Gao appeared. He mumbled a good morning to them before unlocking the doors. By the time Baatar had clocked in, the other workers were arriving, each looking more tired than the previous.

"So infrastructure," Kian said. "Do you need any help with that?"

"If you're offering, I could," Baatar said. "Two heads are better than one."

Kian nodded thoughtfully before he waved Gao over. The CEO narrowed his eyebrows as he walked over, but he quickly recomposed himself and smiled brightly. "How can I help you?"

"Is it alright if I assist the new guy on the infrastructure?" Kian asked.

"I don't care, just do some work," Gao said. Gao then turned his gaze to Baatar and clapped his shoulder. "Way to be on time today, kid." Without another word, he turned his back to them and walked in the direction of his office.

XxXxX

Kuvira hated days off. They made her feel lazy and as if she didn't achieve anything. When she left the office the previous day, she knew she had left a large stack of papers for the poor soul who worked the shift after, but it wasn't entirely her fault. There had been incoming calls of kidnappings in the Little Ba Sing Se shopping mall, and Beifong had dispatched her and Lavana on it, forcing them to drop whatever work they were doing.

She was just about to get up and go on a jog when there was a loud banging on her door. She glanced at herself in the mirror and attempted to make herself a little more presentable before she walked over and opened the door.

Harumi and Lavana stood outside, both covered in a thin layer of sweat. Harumi beamed widely when Kuvira opened the door while Lavana had a confused look on her face.

"Morning Kuvs," Harumi said cheerfully. "Mind if we come in?"

Before waiting for an answer, Harumi stepped through the threshold of Kuvira's apartment, and Lavana quickly followed, giving Kuvira an apologetic look before she did.

"What's brought you here?" Kuvira asked, closing the door.

"I have spectacular news," Harumi said.

Kuvira raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Which is?"

Harumi dug into her pocket and produced three tickets. She waggled her eyebrows and Lavana groaned. "I bought three tickets to the Fire Ferret's game tonight."

Kuvira arched an eyebrow and sighed. "Harumi, I don't want to go see your—"

"Please come with me, Kuvs," Harumi begged. "I'm almost certain that I'm over Mako. And I stand by what I said before, pro-bending is a great way to meet hot, single boys. I mean, Kuvs, c'mon, you found one."

Kuvira snorted and crossed her arms. "I found one and he's dating our boss."

Harumi rolled her eyes and leaned on to Kuvira's counter. She plucked a few berries from the fruit bowl and tossed them into her mouth. "Allegedly dating our boss," she said after a short silence. "There's no hard proof. Besides, I'm pretty sure that Beifong has a thing for older guys."

Kuvira scrunched up her face and scoffed. "And you have proof how?"

"Tenzin," Harumi said as if it were obvious.

Lavana snorted and collapsed into one of Kuvira's couches. "Wow, a full year older. She really is in to those older men."

Harumi nodded earnestly and Lavana laughed. Kuvira cracked a smile and collapsed on the seat next to her.

"So can I count on both of you for tonight?" Harumi asked.

Kuvira and Lavana exchanged a look before Lavana closed her eyes and rolled her head. "As long as I don't have to wait and meet the Fire Ferrets," Lavana said.

Harumi squealed with delight before plopping on to the floor in front of them and shaking their legs excitedly. "Oh, it's going to be so much fun. I promise!"

XxXxX

Baatar wiped the sweat off of his forehead and leaned forward. He squinted his eyes and tried to read Kian's handwriting, which looked like an ostrich horse had gotten ink on its feet and walked all over the paper. Kian stood not too far away, chatting aimlessly with some other engineers.

"Kian, I really need your help," Baatar said.

Kian's eyes flitted over to him and he held up a finger before continuing with his conversation. Baatar sighed and took off his glasses. He wiped them with the inside of his shirt and placed them back on his face.

"Baatar, you'll never guess what I just got us." Kian leaned across the table, his eyes wide. "I just scored us two tickets to the Platypus Bears match tonight."

Baatar raised an eyebrow and Kian smiled. "Have you ever seen a pro-bending match before?"

"I saw one a couple of nights ago," Baatar said. "I believe it was the Fire Ferrets and the Laogai Lion Vultures."

"Good news then," Kian said. "The Ferrets are playing again tonight. It's going to be one hell of a night, my friend."

Baatar racked through his brain to try and find an excuse not to go, but too soon the bell rang, signaling the end of the work day, and Baatar found himself being led to the Little Capital section of town. Kian had slung his arm around Baatar's shoulders and showed him all of the different Fire Nation restaurants.

"This one is my personal favorite," Kian said.

He opened a door to reveal a small pub. There were Fire Nation flags hung all over the place, and each table had its own miniature bon fire. Kian gave the bartender a simple jerk of the head before he led Baatar to a table in the corner.

"The food here will set your taste buds on fire," Kian said. "Literally, your mouth is going to be a fiery inferno."

Baatar raised his eyebrows and stared at the menu. Each item had at least two flames by it, symbolizing how spicy it would be.

"I've never had any other ethnicity foods than Earth Kingdom," Baatar said.

Kian pursed his lips and tugged the menu out of Baatar's hands. "I'll order for you then. I don't want an amateur like yourself to hurt yourself on your first night out."

Baatar rolled his eyes but allowed Kian to place the order anyway. Their waitress, a young girl named Rai, smiled politely to Kian as he ordered, and she stayed and made some small talk with him before she retreated back to the kitchen.

"Come here often?" Baatar asked, staring at the door in which Rai had retreated back to.

"Every Friday," Kian said. "The occasional Wednesday for the Pai Sho games."

Baatar nodded slowly and his eyes scanned the restaurant. It was decently sized, and in another corner, a group of ten people sat huddled around a radio. Occasionally, they would look up at one another and whisper before returning their attention back to the radio, their expressions grim.

"What are they listening to?" Baatar asked.

Kian glanced over at them before shrugging. "Probably some Equalist propaganda."

"Equalists?"

Kian shuddered and leaned forward. "This political party that's gained tremendous amount of support the past few months. They think that benders oppress nonbenders."

"Are you a bender?" Baatar asked. "I noticed the red linings on your engineer jacket."

Kian glanced at his hems before shaking his head. "No, the color just represents which nationality you are. Red is Fire Nation, blue is Water Tribe, and solid green is Earth."

Baatar nodded slowly and opened his mouth to respond when Rai returned with their drinks. Kian raised his glass to her and she winked at him before walking over to the other tables.

"What is this?" Baatar asked, peering into the dark crimson liquid. "It looks like blood."

"It's called Inferno. Try it, I think you'll like it," Kian said. He took a long swig from his and then gestured for Baatar to follow suit.

Baatar sniffed the liquid before closing his eyes and bringing the glass to his lips. The second it touched, he immediately felt his lips burn. He forced himself to take a sip and then his face scrunched up. Kian looked on amusedly and reclined slightly in his chair.

"It's an acquiring taste," Kian said. "But it's not terrible."

Baatar coughed and took a quick drink from his water. He could feel the Inferno burning away at his stomach, and it was not a pleasant one.

"I don't think I'm a huge fan of that," he said.

"What drinks do you usually have?" Kian asked.

"Kale juice with a shot of cactus," Baatar said.

Kian furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head. "That sounds awful, and healthy."

"Well, cactus juice is sort of a hallucinogen," Baatar said. "If you drink it with alcohol, it could potentially kill you."

Kian's face immediately broke out into a wide smile and he slammed his hand on the table. "Hit me up with some of that," he said. "It sounds amazing."

Baatar offered him a weak smile before placing his water glass back on the table. "The during part is fun, but the hangover is horrendous."

Kian opened his mouth to say something when Rai set down a plate of chicken and rice in front of them. Over top of the food was a light red sauce with sesame seeds in it. The smell alone made Baatar's eyes water, and he dreaded the moment he had to put it into his mouth.

"Cheers," Kian said, raising his fork and then helping himself to a large portion.

Baatar picked up his own fork and frowned at his reflection before shoving it into the pile of rice and then raising it to his mouth. "Cheers, Kian," Baatar said before he placed the food into his mouth.

XxXxX

On the way to the pro-bending arena, Baatar had stopped five times to buy water bottles while Kian would take one look at him and start laughing. The food at the restaurant had been spicier than what Baatar was used to, and Baatar had sweated completely through his shirt by the end of the meal. He had forced Kian to stop at a side store and he bought himself a new shirt before they continued on their merry way.

"I didn't think it'd be that bad, I'm sorry Baatar," Kian said. Even then, Baatar could tell he was holding back a laugh. "I guess I've become so accustomed to it."

Baatar rolled his eyes and continued walking while Kian laughed.

"I hope that this game can make it up to you," Kian said. "It'll be a lot of fun. I promise."

"It better," Baatar said.

XxXxX

Kuvira crossed her arms and glared at the pool below her. Harumi had decided to abandon her usual Fire Ferret getup to prove that she really wasn't interested in Mako, and she had also decided to sit in between Lavana and her, which made for secret looks behind Harumi's head.

Harumi chatted excitedly about how close the Fire Ferrets were to being in the tournament, and Kuvira found herself half-listening. She nodded at the appropriate times and stated her opinion, but she found that she wasn't really processing what it was that Harumi was saying.

The lights were just beginning to shut off when the seat next to Kuvira creaked. She glanced over and could make out the faint outline of a man. His head was turned and he was talking to whoever was on the other side of him.

"Hey—hey Kuvs." Harumi nudged Kuvira's arm and she leaned in. "Is it just me or did Hasook's hair grow, like, a lot?"

Kuvira glanced down at the Fire Ferrets. Her eyes fell on to the waterbender, and sure enough, the hair was much longer than what Hasook's had been.

"I don't think that's Hasook," Kuvira said.

Harumi arched an eyebrow and she squinted at the players. "It's definitely not Hasook, and it's definitely a woman."  
Kuvira shrugged and leaned back into her seat. The new waterbender was very bad at pro-bending, and Kuvira had to remind herself how hard the sport was to prevent herself from judging the girl too hard. Kuvira had just closed her eyes, ready to take a relaxing nap, when Harumi grabbed Kuvira's bicep quickly, jerking her out of her trance.

"Kuvs, Lav, did you see that?"

Kuvira glanced down at the ring. All of the players were staring at the Fire Ferret's waterbender in awe, and she wondered vaguely if the waterbender had pulled a hat trick.

"What? Did she get someone off the ring?" Kuvira asked.

"No—she bent earth, fire, and water," Harumi said.

Kuvira, feeling much more awake, leaned forward and stared at the girl. She had only seen the Avatar through the newspaper, and even then it was such a blurry picture she hadn't been able to make out what the girl looked like.

"Haven't seen much of her since that interview," Lavana stated.

Harumi nodded once and narrowed her eyes. "I wonder if they'll let her play since she is the Avatar."

Kuvira shrugged and leaned back into her seat. "That's their problem to decide."

Lavana nodded in agreement and Harumi frowned. "I mean, I don't—" Harumi glanced over Kuvira's way and then her jaw dropped. She whacked Kuvira's arm and then pointed to Kuvira's left.

"Ow, that sort of hurt," Kuvira said, rubbing the spot. She glanced over to where Harumi was pointing, and she instantly rolled her eyes.

Sitting next to her was a very handsome man. He donned a Cabbage Corp engineer jacket and he had the physical features of someone stereotypically connected to the Fire Nation. He glanced over when he caught Kuvira staring, and he flashed a smile.

"Hello," he said. "My name's Kian."

He offered out a hand and Kuvira hesitantly took it. "Kuvira."

Harumi lunged across Kuvira's lap and extended out her own hand. "I'm Harumi."

Kian smiled and shook Harumi's hand. They then started up a discussion, and Kuvira drowned it out. She kept her eyes on the arena below her, and tried her best to ignore the feeling of Harumi's elbow digging into her thigh bone.

"Do you want to switch seats?" Kuvira finally asked. "That way you can be closer together and Harumi's not making my leg go numb."

Kian arched an eyebrow but he switched seats anyway. Lavana flashed Kuvira a desperate look before she turned her attention back to the game. Kuvira was about to do the same when the person who Kian attended the game with tapped her shoulder.

"What do you—oh." Kuvira blinked as Baatar flashed her a small smile. He adjusted his glasses and gestured to Harumi and Kian.

"Looks like our friends really hit it off," he said.

Kuvira glanced back at them before nodding. "Yeah, I suppose they did."  
Baatar smirked and turned so he was facing Kuvira. "So I guess I did catch you at another one of these matches."

Kuvira nodded and Baatar picked at the ends of his shirt. "The other day at the Police Headquarters, I was going to say hi after I was done talking with Lin, but you had gone."

Kuvira took a deep breath and turned so she too faced Baatar. "Look, I'm sure you're really nice, but you have a girlfriend, and I'm really just uncomfortable talking to someone who's taken. Especially when their significant other is my boss, nonetheless—"

The confused look on Baatar's face slowed Kuvira down in her tracks, and then he broke out into a fit of laughter. Kuvira could feel the back of her neck and ears growing warm, and she knew it was only a matter of time before they started to turn red from embarrassment.

"What?" She asked. "What is so funny about what I said?"

Baatar ran a hand through his hair before giving Kuvira a small smile. "Lin is my aunt. She's my mom's sister. We're not—we're definitely not dating."

Kuvira stared at Baatar with her mouth open before she turned forward and stared dumbstruck at the match going on below. "I—I am so sorry," she finally said.

"It's fine," Baatar said. "I guess it was an honest mistake."

Kuvira nodded and opened her mouth to respond when Lavana's head appeared in between them. "Don't mean to break up this lovely little chat you have going," she said. "But Harumi and this random guy are getting a little bit comfy, and I want to get out before I see anything." She nodded her head towards Kian and Harumi, whose heads were close together.

Kuvira made a face and rose to her feet. Baatar followed suit and they followed Lavana out of the pro-bending arena.

"It's a shame to have wasted their money," Kuvira stated when they were well on their way.

"If tonight goes how I think it'll end up," Lavana said, glancing back at the arena. "They won't even care that we left."

Kuvira laughed and Baatar smiled. They were just passing the Southern Water Tribe Cultural center when Kuvira's stomach let out a low growl.

"Did either of you eat before this?" Kuvira asked, slowing her pace.

"I did, but it was disastrous," Baatar said.

Lavana shook her head and Kuvira slowly changed their route.

"What do you say to hitting up Narook's?" She asked. "I'm really craving some Southern Water Tribe noodles."

Baatar scrunched up his face and he hesitated in following her. "I've had some cultural exposure tonight," he said slowly. "Is it anything like Fire Nation food?"

Kuvira blinked at him before laughing. "No, it's definitely—no. Fire Nation food and Water Tribe food are on completely different ends of the spectrum."

Baatar pursed his lips for a second before he began to walk with them.

"Lead the way, then," he said.


	5. The One With An Equalist Rally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuvira, Lavana, and Baatar infiltrate an Equalist rally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in ONE WEEK. WOW. Not really sure if this counts as two or one though, since I uploaded this at 1AM on Sunday. Whatever. It's gonna be counted as two. Enjoy this chapter...it might not be the best quality and I apologize profusely for that!

The park in Republic City was one of Kuvira's favorite places. It was always tranquil and silent, even if there was a shit ton of people wandering around. It was almost as if there was some unspoken rule about the park being a place for peacefulness and meditation. The calmness of the park had become somewhat taken for granted in Kuvira's books. Whenever she visited it, she always just assumed that it would be calm.

The morning after Kuvira's latest night shift, she found herself walking around the park with Baatar and Lavana. The park was how it normally was, silent, nearly empty, and peaceful, but in the back of Kuvira's mind, she could tell something was off, but she was unable to put her finger on what exactly that was.

"And I was thinking of adding a couple of marble columns to hold up some of the balconies," Baatar said. "I thought it'd be nice to walk into the office and have two marble staircases that twine together and then lead up to a second floor. And the second floor offices will have small balconies, but they're not accessible."

"Why wouldn't you make them accessible?" Lavana asked, genuine interest in her voice.

"Because it would look sort of strange to walk into an office building and have fifty workers staring down at you," Baatar said. "Besides, yesterday when I proposed the idea of accessible balconies to Kian, he vetoed it immediately and said something about how we're a corporation, not a stalking site."

Kuvira laughed and kicked a stone. "Speaking of Kian, how did his rendezvous with Harumi go?"

Baatar scrunched up his face and shrugged. "Hasn't spoken much about it. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad, but I do know for a fact I'm just thankful that I didn't receive all the gory details."

"We would have heard them all from Harumi," Kuvira said. "But yesterday Beifong didn't have her scheduled until the night shift, and I wasn't going to hang around just to hear how her night went."

Baatar laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "I can ask Kian for you, but I'm not sure we're close enough friends to exchange old sex stories. I met the man like, two days ago."

Kuvira made a face and shook her head. "No, definitely do not ask him. I'm curious, but not all that curious." Kuvira tilted her head at Baatar and gave him a small smile. "Although, I am curious as to why I never knew that Beifong had a sister until now."

Baatar stared straight ahead for a couple of minutes before he sighed. "My mom and Lin had a rough childhood. I mean, not rough as in living on the streets, but Toph was always working, and they each wanted her attention. So, Lin became a police officer and my mom sort of rebelled. There was this whole incident, I don't really know all the details, but it's put my mom and Lin against each other for years. I mean, it's sort of gotten better. But Lin still holds a very large grudge about it."

Kuvira and Lavana waited patiently for him to continue, but when he didn't, Lavana quickly changed topics. "I'm really glad you had off today, Baatar. It's nice having some other friend in the city than just Kuvira and Harumi."

Baatar snorted and adjusted his glasses. "Two pretty girls like yourselves are trying to tell me you can't find any friends, or dates?"

"We've tried," Kuvira said. "But in vain. No one seems to like us."

"Well, I like you," Baatar said.

Kuvira opened her mouth to respond when a sharp whistle shrill cut across her thoughts. She and Lavana both glanced at each other before they picked up their pace, Baatar jogging after them.

"What's the rush?" He asked. "Is it something I said?"

Kuvira and Lavana jogged over the bridge and in the clearing, they could make out the Equalist Propaganda man who they had seen a couple of days earlier lying in the middle of a bunch of papers. One of the park officers was standing by him with his notebook out.

"—and then the Avatar oppressed me," the man said.

The officer jotted it down quickly before nodding and running off. Kuvira stared at the Equalist papers on the ground and picked one up. "What's the Revelation?"

The man glanced over at her and straightened his back. "Are you a bender?"

"No," Baatar said. "We've been trying for weeks to find ways to join the Equalist Party."

"Yeah," Kuvira said. "We feel oppressed by benders in the city."

The man eyed them suspiciously before handing them four papers. "On the back of these are maps, sort of like a puzzle. It'll lead you to the Revelation. Make sure you bring a form, or else you won't be able to get in."

Kuvira took the papers and nodded once to the guy. Baatar and Lavana helped him pick up the rest of the papers before following Kuvira out of the park.

"Where are you going?" Lavana asked as they strutted to a nearby bus stop.

"There's always giant maps by the bus stops," Kuvira said. "I'm sure we can figure out where this is if we hold it up."

She stopped in front of the map and held up two pieces that went together. The one had a dot on it, and she moved the papers around until she found a place where they fit. "There. That's where it's all going to happen."

Kuvira folded the papers and stuck them into her pocket. Lavana crossed her arms and stared at the map. "I think we should alert Beifong. If anyone deserves to hear this, it's her."

"No," Kuvira said quickly. "If we tell Beifong, she'll have officers infiltrate the meeting. We need to get in and see how much of a threat this Equalist Party is and what their leader tends to do with benders."

"Lu and Gang are already on the case," Lavana said. "We can't just take their job."

"They haven't done anything this past week to find dirt on this," Kuvira said, narrowing her eyes. "They've just sat at their desks and stuffed their faces with food."

"Sounds efficient," Baatar said.

Kuvira rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. "Listen, Lavana, if we sneak in and get out safely, we'll tell Beifong. We don't even know if there really is going to be a rally. This could just be a ploy to try and bait the police force into coming in and ruining everything, which would then endorse the fact that benders oppress nonbenders."

Lavana pursed her lips and stared at the sidewalk. "Sometimes I wish you weren't right."

Kuvira flashed her a small smile before turning to Baatar. "Can we count on you to come tonight or are you out?"

"Are we at that stage in the friendship where we crush bad guys together?" Baatar asked.

Kuvira rolled her eyes and sighed. "Seriously, Baatar, are you in or are you out?"

Baatar crinkled his nose for a second before nodding. "I'm in. I mean, I've got to have some sort of story to tell the family when I return home."

XxXxX

Kuvira tugged her jacket more shut and glanced around. The rally was taking place one of the most deserted areas of the city, and the only comforting thing about it was she had Lavana and Baatar with her. They had all gone out shopping and bought a cheap pair of new clothes to make themselves blend in a little more. Baatar donned a typical paper boy outfit while Lavana looked like a poor but sophisticated business woman.

"This is insane," Lavana whispered. "There's a guard at the door and everything."

Kuvira's hand instinctively touched the crumpled up paper in her inside pocket, and she could feel her heart beating faster with every step she took.

"This is a private event. No one gets in without an invitation." The guard eyed them suspiciously and then his eyes fell on to Kuvira as she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the paper. He took it and glanced at it before smiling. "The Revelation is upon us, my brother and sisters."

Kuvira nodded thankfully and walked into the room. They passed through a dark hallway, and then on the other side, it opened up to a large room filled with a lot of people. In the front was a large stage, and draping from the ceilings was a large picture of Amon with banners of the Equalist Party on either side.

"This is insane," Lavana said. "This is the dumbest thing we have ever done. This is literally so crazy."  
"Lavana, chill," Kuvira hissed.

Lavana muttered something that Kuvira was unable to make out, but soon the lights up on center stage clicked on, and a voice was heard over the loud speaker. "Please welcome, your hero, your savior, Amon!"

On the stage, Amon and some of his henchmen rose. Their faces were all casted downwards at the floor, and Kuvira felt the hair on her arms stand up when Amon slowly lifted his head up.

"This is fucking insane Kuvira," Lavana hissed.

Kuvira nudged her with her elbow and glanced at Baatar. He had his eyebrows narrowed at Amon, and Kuvira remembered vaguely him mentioning he really wasn't a bender.

Amon approached the microphone and began to speak. Kuvira stared at him, dumbstruck and in awe, as he talked. His words were nothing but buzzing in her ears, but at the same time, she couldn't help but pay attention to what he had to say.

"—the power to take a person's bending away. Permanently."

"What? What is this guy on, Kuvira, seriously, I want to know." Lavana turned to Kuvira and crossed her arms. "No one can take someone's bending away except the Avatar. This is just ridiculous."

"Now, for a demonstration."

"Oh good," Lavana muttered. "We can watch him make a fool of himself."

Kuvira glanced over to her right where Equalist henchmen were bringing out members of the Triple Threat Triad. Lightning Bolt Zolt was up first, and Kuvira felt a swooping sensation in her stomach.

"Lavana, I don't think he's messing around," Kuvira said.

"What do you mean?"

"You've fought the Triple Threats before. They're tough."

Lavana glanced over at them and her eyes widened. "Kuvira, isn't that, isn't that Bolin?"

Kuvira studied the Triple Threats that were being held and did a double take. Bolin was hunched over on the stage, a terrified look in his eyes. She was about to tell Baatar when Lightning Bolt Zolt released a large flume of fire. Amon easily avoided the attack, and Zolt released several more attacks, releasing a large bolt of lightning when Amon neared.

Amon grabbed Zolt's arm and twisted him around. The lightning ricocheted off of the stage and off of the metal tubes and rafters. Amon stuck on hand at the back of Zolt's neck and the other on his temple with his thumb in between his eyebrows.

The lightning bolt decreased in power until it was just a flame, and then that flame disappeared completely. Zolt collapsed on to the stage, and when he rose, he aimed an attack at Amon, only nothing came out.

"That's crazy," Lavana said. "You've got us trapped in a fucking mad house Kuvira."

Kuvira glanced over at Baatar and saw that he had a gleam in his eyes. He watched as each Triple Threat lost their bending powers, and each time one lost it, the gleam in his eyes grew stronger.

"Baatar—"

Before she could finish her thought, a large cloud of smoke erupted into the room. Kuvira began to cough and she heard people around her screaming and could feel them running away with her earthbending. She reached out to grab Baatar and Lavana's arms when two arms grabbed her roughly and pulled her out of a side door.

"For Raava's sake, Kuvira, stop thrashing. Relax, it's just me."

Kuvira's muscles relaxed at the sound of Lavana's voice, and she glanced back at the other girl. Lavana's face remained unreadable as they made their way out of the district and into a much busier street. Baatar wasn't far behind, and the gleam in his eyes had disappeared completely.

"That was fucking ridiculous," Lavana said. "I'm never going to one of those again. I don't care what you say, Kuvira, I'm not going back."

"He took their bending," Kuvira said dumbly. "He took their fucking bending."

"Mhmm. I'm aware of that, I witnessed it myself."

Lavana turned a street corner and Kuvira realized where she was leading them. "Why are we heading towards the Police Headquarters?"

"Because we're going with my plan, and that plan is that Beifong deserves to know," Lavana said.

"Agreed," Baatar said. "She'll at least know what the threat is."

Lavana narrowed her eyebrows at him and she tilted her head. "Are you okay? You were sort of in a daze at the rally."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Baatar said. "It's just, growing up as a Beifong and being a nonbender sort of sucked. And I don't wish for anyone in my family to lose their bending, but the fact that someone understands the hardships, it's sort of nice."

Kuvira and Lavana exchanged a look and didn't respond. They walked in an awkward silence for the rest of way, and once they reached the Headquarters Baatar spoke again.

"I mean, I don't think I support what he's doing though. Without bending, we won't have healers or people to help bend metal for architecture or people to work at power plants. There are just more problems of living without the ability to bend than living with it."

"Well said," Lavana said. "You should be a spokesperson."

"I'm not very good with words to large crowds," Baatar said. "So that would be a 'no.'"

Lavana laughed and pushed open the doors. Harumi stood behind the desk, and her face lit up immediately when they walked in. "Good night for visiting a friend," she said cheerfully. "Hi, Baatar. It's nice to formally meet you."

"Have I—Have I ever informally met you before?" Baatar asked.

"Oh, no. I've heard a lot about you from Kian," Harumi said. "Says you're pretty smart."

"Thanks," Baatar said. He glanced around the room once and then leaned on to the counter. "Is Lin here? I'm afraid we have something rather serious to discuss with her."

"Oh, yeah. She's just up in her office," Harumi said.

"Thank you," Baatar said.

He led the way up the stairs to Beifong's office. There was only one cop on duty tonight, and Kuvira waved politely to him before following Baatar into Beifong's office.

"What's up, kid?" Beifong asked. She sat at her desk with a stack of papers beside her. She had on a pair of reading glasses and her hair was falling out of its usually tight hairstyle.

"We infiltrated an Equalist Rally," Baatar said.

Beifong's head shot up at this, and she put her pen down. "Really? What did you find out?"

"Amon can take people's bending away," Kuvira said. "He took the Triple Threat Triad's bending, and he almost took Bolin's but there was a malfunction and a bunch of steam clouds got into the room."

"I can almost guarantee that the Avatar had something to do with that," Beifong said. "Bolin is a member of her pro-bending team, and I'm sure that she and Mako will not want a team member who can't even bend. That, and she was rescuing him because they're friends."

Lavana snorted and Beifong rose to her feet.

"Thank you for reporting this to me," she said. "But next time, come see me first so I can send in a bunch of people to expose the threat of the Equalists. I'm sure that after tonight, if Korra tells Tenzin everything she witnessed, the council will be able to see that Amon is not a force to be taken lightly."

Kuvira nodded slowly and Beifong sighed. "If that's all you needed to tell me, then I'd advise you all go home. Baatar, you have an infrastructure to redo, and Kuvira and Lavana, I have you both down for the early shift tomorrow. There's no point in waiting around at the moment. It'll only be a waste of yours and my time."

Lavana nodded in agreement and they filed out of Beifong's office. She metalbent the room shut after Baatar exited, and they began their way out of the headquarters.

"It's crazy," Lavana said as they began to head towards Kuvira's apartment. Baatar had left them for his own, and Lavana had asked to stay to the night. "I think that we're going to be facing some major issues pretty soon."

Kuvira nodded and unlocked the apartment building's door. "I mean, if you really think about it, this is terrifying," Kuvira said. "He's taking away bending, for good. How is the world supposed to function? Bending has always been the part of everyone's lives for the longest time."

Lavana shrugged and collapsed on Kuvira's couch. She flicked on the radio and some soothing music began to play softly. "I just hope that I'll be able to sleep tonight and not have Amon nightmares."

Kuvira nodded in agreement and glanced out her window. The lights of the city had always comforted her, but now they just seemed empty, cold, and uninviting.

"I hope you sleep well, Lavana," Kuvira said.

Lavana flashed her a thumbs up and nestled deeper into the couch. "Same goes for you. Feel free to wake me up if you do have any nightmares. I'm always down to talk about dreams."

Kuvira laughed and opened her bedroom door. The bed was unmade from when she had woken up that morning, and her clothes laid strewn across the floor. "Same applies to you." Kuvira stepped over a piece of her uniform and glanced back out into the living room. "Just watch where you step if you come in here. I haven't cleaned this place in ages."


	6. The One With A Gala

The weather in Zaofu had always been consistently warm with little rain. Due to it being so close to the equator, Baatar had hardly experienced the feeling of being cold, and when he awoke one morning with a terrible case of shivers and his thin sheet wrapped tightly around his body, he had thought for a brief moment that he was dying.

It took him a couple of seconds before he realized he was just cold, and then the reality hit him that he would have to get out of bed and walk through the bitterness if he wanted to make it to work on time. He rolled out of bed with the blanket still wrapped around him and he walked to his closet. As he changed into his work clothes, he became immediately thankful that Gao had given him an engineer jacket. During the warmer days, the jacket had been a nuisance to wear. It was thick and heavy, and it made Baatar sweat an unnecessary amount.

He closed his apartment door behind him and as soon as he did, he shoved his hands into his pocket and buried his face lower into the jacket's collar. As he walked through the hallway, Baatar was able to see his breath, and he immediately dreaded the moment he would have to step outside and face the winds and low temperatures.

Baatar made it to Cabbage Corp in record time, having walked faster and less careful than he usually did. He turned his back to the winds and stood shaking in his boots until Gao came and unlocked the doors. Once he was inside the safety of the building, Baatar removed his hands from his pockets and unclasped the first few buttons, allowing the suffocating feeling around his neck lessen.

"Does it always get this cold?" Baatar asked Kian as they pulled out the blueprints they had been working on.

"It wasn't even that bad this morning," Kian said.

"Are you joking?" Baatar asked. "I almost froze my ass off."

Kian snorted and peered down at the blueprints. "If you thought that was cold, I'd hate to see you in the middle of winter when there's snow everywhere."

Baatar's eyes widened and he straightened his posture. "Does it snow a lot?"

Kian shrugged and marked a few lines on the paper. "Last winter there was a huge snow storm. It shut down the city for weeks. A lot of people died because of it."

"I remember reading about that," Baatar said. "It seemed really bad."

Kian nodded and furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course none of the other nations even attempted to help us. We probably could have saved a lot of lives."

Baatar sensed the hostility in his voice, and he straightened his posture. "What did you want us to do? We couldn't very well stop the weather. Did you want us to send troops in and have them shake their fists at the sky while yelling at it to try and make the snow stop falling?"

Kian scoffed in disgust. "No, you don't need to be an ass about this. I'm just saying, sending in some food or warm clothes or something, it would have helped a lot. Or maybe the Fire nation could have sent in some firebenders who could melt away the snow for rescue missions."

Baatar ran a hand through his hair and he frowned. "I'm sorry we didn't do anything to help. We—most of us just figured there was nothing we could do."

"There's never nothing," Kian said. "You can always do something."

Baatar cracked a small smile and Kian frowned. "What?"

"It's just, sometimes you're actually really deep guy," Baatar said.

"I'm deeper than the Yue Bay, man," Kian said slowly.

"That's—that's how deep exactly?"

Kian shrugged and unraveled their blueprints for the balcony. "It's pretty deep."

XxXxX

Kuvira signed another arrest report before throwing her pen on to the desk and stretching back. So far, it had been a slow day. There was little news of Equalist activity, and it was slightly concerning to Kuvira. At least with a lot of activity, the police were able to hack down on clues and pick up hints as to what the next move of the opposing team would be. But with a threat completely veiled behind a shield, there was absolutely nothing to do but sit and wait.

"You seem bored." Lavana dropped her pile of papers on Kuvira's desk and leaned her head on to them. "I thought you enjoyed paperwork."

Kuvira groaned and rubbed her eyes. "I don't ever remember giving you that signal, but I absolutely do not enjoy paperwork. It makes me more tired than I need to be."

Lavana nodded in agreement and closed her eyes. She let out a long sigh and rolled her head so only her forehead was resting on the paper. She clung to the end of the desk and let out a small groan.

"I hope you two are having fun." Lavana immediately stood up and Kuvira straightened her posture. Beifong stood behind Lavana with her arms crossed, the expression on her face one of clear amusement. "I just yelled at Lu and Gang. Don't make me yell at you two as well."

"Sorry Chief," Lavana said. "It won't happen again."

Beifong rolled her eyes and glanced at the clock. "Either way, I need you two to leave. Tarrlok called, and he's throwing a gala tonight and needs officers on duty. Go home and rest up and then come back here at six and all officers will head over to the parry together."

"A gala?" Lavana narrowed her eyebrows. "For what, exactly?"

"He's created a task force, so I would assume it has to deal with that. I suppose he wants to introduce the idea to some of the wealthiest in Republic City, just to see how it goes over." Beifong shrugged and took Kuvira's and Lavana's paper stacks. "Just hurry along now. I don't want to see your faces around here until six."

Kuvira nodded and stood. She followed Lavana out of the room and into the locker rooms. There, they changed out of their metalbending uniform and into casual clothing. Kuvira took her hair out from her braid and let it cascade around her face.

"I've always loved when you wear your hair down," Lavana said. "You don't do it nearly enough."

"It gets hot and sweaty," Kuvira said. "And it's just a pain in the ass to take care of."

Lavana nodded in agreement as she pinned her own hair up into a messy bun. "I'm actually thinking of getting it cut soon."

Kuvira raised an eyebrow and shut her locker door. She metalbent the locks into place and then followed Lavana out. "How short are you thinking?"

"To my jaw," Lavana said, using her hands to show the new length. "And I was thinking of getting bangs, but since we're going to be seeing a lot more skirmishes now, I think that it would be stupid."

Kuvira nodded in agreement squinted at the sunlight. Despite the sun being out, there was a high wind, and Kuvira's face felt numb after only a few seconds of standing outside.

"Want to come over and get some noodles delivered? I think that the Legacy radio show is on today," Kuvira said.

Lavana glanced in the direction of her apartment before nodding. "Sure. I think that Rai's still at work."

They headed to the direction to Kuvira's apartment, pausing only to buy a new hat and scarf at a curbside stand and to pick up a takeout for their lunch. Kuvira watched as Lavana nestled the hat on to her head, and she immediately felt sort of jealous that she had decided against buying the extra layers.

Once they approached her apartment, Kuvira unlocked the doors with metalbending and then opened the door for Lavana. Lavana walked in and then Kuvira kicked the door shut. They walked up the floor to Kuvira's apartment, and once they were inside, Kuvira started a fire while Lavana put on the radio.

"You know, I really hate this radio show," Lavana said. "But I've become too attatched to some of the characters to stop listening."

Kuvira laughed and nodded in agreement. "I'll never admit it in public, but Kana and Zahra have really grown on me. The development that they have from the first episode to now is really nice."

"I still hate Zahra," Lavana said as the theme song for Legacy began. "She only looks out for herself and no one else. I honestly don't even think she gives two shits about Kana."

"Well, I mean that's her problem then." Kuvira handed Lavana her box of noodles and sat on the couch. Zahra's raspy voice filled the room, and soon the sound of noodles being slurped did too. "Her issues shouldn't affect Kana's happiness."

Lavana laughed and rolled her eyes. "Listen to us, Kuvira. We're sitting on a couch, eating noodles, and listening to radio shows. It's a sad life."

Kuvira raised her noodle box and flashed Lavana a quick smile. "Our definitions of sad vary drastically."

XxXxX

Kuvira couldn't find Lavana anywhere. Tarrlok's house was packed full of people, and Kuvira couldn't perform her job as a guard very well when she wasn't even able to keep track of her partner and get up to the balcony where it was less crowded and also provided a nice view of the gala happening below. A little way away, Kuvira spotted Xu and Beifong talking by a pillar. It seemed as if Xu had done something wrong, because Beifong was talking wildly with her hands.

As Kuvira attempted to make her way to the stairs, she could see Tenzin and Korra entering with the rest of Tenzin's family. The Avatar's face expressed a variety of emotions, from sad and anger to happiness and giddiness.

Korra and her mentor had just walked across the room when Tarrlok intercepted them. Tenzin's face expressed boredom while Korra's held innocence and shyness. Kuvira studied the two as they walked across the floor to meet Hiroshi Sato. After a couple of minutes, Hiroshi's daughter appeared with Mako at her side.

"Hey, Kuvira." Lavana's hand clasped Kuvira's shoulder, making her jump. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you. I just—I just wanted to ask if you knew that Mako was dating the Sato girl."

Kuvira shook her head and followed Lavana through a break in the crowd and up the stairs to the balcony. "I didn't realize he was taken." Kuvira stared down at the young couple and smiled slightly. "She's really pretty though. But do you think that's why Harumi said she was over him last week?"

Lavana studied the couple and shrugged. "Not sure. It's definitely pos—oh look, there's Chief."

Kuvira glanced down and saw Beifong making her way to the Avatar. Her facial expression revealed that she was not at all pleased with the conversation, and once she left, Korra seemed annoyed and angry.

"Beifong knows how to piss someone off apparently," Lavana said.

Kuvira snorted and she leaned back against the rail. "When doesn't Beifong know how to piss someone off? I'm pretty sure she made that one person pissed when she wouldn't let them call the police for tiger cats that get stuck in trees."

"It's reasonable to reject," Lavana said. "If the cat got up, the cat can get down."

"Maybe," Kuvira said. "But I don't think that tiger cats are that smart. I actually read an article that stated that tiger cats are the dumbest animals to walk the earth."

"Why?" Lavana asked. "Why would you feel the need to share that? Now I'm really sad that tiger cats are just misunderstood and that too many people think they're dumb."

"Well," Kuvira said. "Do you think tiger—oh no, Lavana, what's going on over there?"

There were a bunch of reporters standing below the staircase entering into Tarrlok's home. Kora stood in front of them and Tarrlok stood next to her. Immediately, Lavana's body tensed.

"What?" Kuvira asked.

"This gala," Lavana said slowly. "It was a trick. Tarrlok knew he couldn't get Korra to agree joining his dumb task force, so what better way to get someone in to something that they don't want to by putting them in front of a bunch of people who has the power to either inflate or deflate their chances of making it big in this world."

"That's actually a really good strategy," Kuvira said.

Lavana nodded in agreement, and the two of them watched sadly as the Avatar was hounded with accusations. "Should we go down and help her?" Kuvira asked.

"No, definitely not," Lavana said. "She's supposed to be the most powerful person in the world. If it looks like she needs us to swoop in and rescue her whenever things get heated, it'll only get bad. No one will believe in the Avatar, and from what I've heard, she doesn't need that anymore."

"I see," Kuvira said.

Lavana nodded and rested her chin against the cool metal railing. "I wish this was over so I could go home and listen to all of the Legacy reruns."

Kuvira smirked and glanced over at her. "You want to try and cram forty-one one hour shows?"

"Actually, they're only forty-two minutes," Lavana said. "Eighteen minutes is just advertising."

XxXxX

Baatar had stayed later at the office then he originally planned, which also meant he was out walking later than he probably should have been. The streets were nearly dead, and Baatar contributed the fact that it was two in the morning helped a little bit. Baatar huddled himself deeper into his engineer jacket, his hands shoved into his pockets and his face buried into the collar. He had nearly made it home when two figures came out and grabbed him under the armpits.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Baatar asked, struggling to release himself.

"You're a nonbender, aren't you?" The voice didn't sound threatening, but Baatar wasn't willing to take the risk. He stayed silent, and he could hear the increase in breathing around him. More than two people were now accompanying him, and he could feel his heart beating faster in his chest.

"So what if I am?" Baatar asked.

There was a long silence, and Baatar could himself being tugged backwards. Once the light turned on, Baatar found himself standing stood in a room full of people lounging around the walls. There was a large picture of Amon hanging from the ceiling, and there was a variety of workout equipment scattered around the room. All of the people wore a covering over their faces so he could only see their eyes.

"Join our cause," one of the masked members said. "Join the revolution."

Baatar blinked at them and narrowed his eyebrows. "I have too much to deal with right now. I don't think revolting is going to fit in my schedule."

Some of the masked members narrowed their eyebrows while others just looked amused. Baatar hoped that his mouth wasn't going to get him into trouble, but it was a bad habit that he just wasn't able to control.

"I'd like to return home now," he said.

He made his way to the door, but one of the figures stepped swiftly in front of it. "Think about it, man. Benders have been abusing their abilities for too long. We need to prove to them that nonbenders are people too."

Baatar furrowed his eyebrows at this new voice. It was the voice that had always nagged him at work about his blueprints and ideas being to unrealistic, it was the voice that had always had the time to talk to everyone in the office before cutting down to serious business, it was the voice had complained the previous day about the lack of support from other nations.

"Kian?" Baatar asked. "What—what are you doing?"

Kian's eyebrows narrowed and he tugged the Equalist mask higher over his nose. "I'm fighting for a good cause, man. You've been privileged your whole life. You haven't had to go through the fear of walking alone at night, not knowing if a Triad member would hop out of an ally and mug you."

"How is that different than you jumping out at me on my walk home and forcing me in front of a bunch of your own gang friends to join a revolution?"

"Because we have a valid reason," Kian said. "Benders just do it for the hell of it."

Baatar glanced at the floor once before looking back up and meeting Kian's eyes. The façade of work had completely vanished from his eyes, and instead Baatar found himself staring into an empty fire.

"Kian," Baatar said slowly. "Tomorrow at work, I don't want you to work with me. I can do the infrastructure by myself."

Kian's eyes widened, and Baatar pushed past him. The room was dead silent as he made his exit, and before the last door swung shut, Baatar could hear Kian yell.

"You're going to regret that decision, Baatar."

Baatar turned back and raised his hands up in surrender. "My existence is a lifetime of regrets. What's two more to that?"

Without another word, Baatar turned his back on the small Equalist section and Kian, and he made his way back to his apartment.


End file.
